INVITED LECTURE IN THE lASS-CONGRESS IN MADRID.

SEPTEMBER 1989

Tensile Membrane Structures

J. SCHLAICH, R. BERGERMANN, W. SOBEK'

Sum mary

The /lrstp.rt ofthl. paper provides some basic Information on cunent teltlle material nsed
In the manufacture of membranes, (oiether with some detalllng, In special the dlllerent
.ystems orlolnlnK. The second part describes some oftbe mo,t recent membrane,de,lgned
by the auilior, glvin!! special attenUon to the most Innovatol'!' aspects.

1. INTRODUCflON
According to their definition, membrane structures
carry loads by membrane forces only, with no or only
insignificant bending. If tensile and compressive
membrane forces are permitted, we speak of shells. If
the compressive forces are eliminated, we speak of
tensile membrane structures. Their aim is to actually '
realize the surface itself with a material which is able
to carry tensile forces only, in order to achieve extreme lightness or even translucence.
In order to eliminate the compressive forces in the
membrane structure, they are to be pretensioned or
prestressed which means that tensile stresses are to be
built up in the surface to the extent, that even after superimposing the outer loads (dead load, wind, snow,
etc.) the structure remains stable. Fig. I. Ifwe exclude
a preloading of the structure with mass or weight as
done in case of hanging roofs, there remain two basic
methods to apply the necessary prestress: mechanical
prestress of the surface applied from its periphery and
pneumatic pressure, the first leading to surfaces with
negative Gaussian curvature or saddle shapes the second to positive Gaussian curvature or dome shapes.
Of course tensile forces can only be reached in the
surface or membrane itself, the supporting structures
for equilibrium necessarily contain compressed
membranes as well, masts, compression rings, etc.
From that it follows that the art of designing such tensile membrane structures consists in finding for each
case the reasonable compromise between tbe temptation of making free use of the shapes tensile membranes permit and the fact that these free shapes have to
be paid for with costly supports. Optimal is the selfbalanced structure, e.g. a pneumatic cushion surrounded by a ring acting in pure compression. AnotUniversity of Stuttgart and Schlaich Bergermann und Partner
Consulting Engineers, Stuttgart,
1

her principle problem of these structures is that their

curved surfaces usually do not comply with the functional space requirements thus leaving a volume
which is of no use but costs heating/cooling and
maintenance. This again ask for self-control when
conceiving the overall shape.
With respect to the structural design itself one cannot
but emphasize the interrelation between the type of a
membrane structure, its manufacture and its geometry, the latter being responsible for its load bearing
behaviour. Fig. 2. From that it follows that the designer of tensile membrane structures has the choice
between.
-

cable nets with quadrangular (<<square) meshes

cable nets with triangular meshes
textile (foldable) membranes
metal (non-foldable) membranes.

Whereas cable nets usually require a cladding, the

textile and metal membranes can be considered to be
the cladding itself which is able to carry the loads as
well. /1/
In his invited lecture at the 30th anniversary ofIASS,
Madrid 1989, the first author, following Fig. 2, tried to
cover this whole range of tensile membrane structures including cable nets.
This paper, however, restricts itself to some recent
textile membrane structures which the authors designed in recent years. Before starting with these examples, some basic information on current textile membrane material and detailing is given.

2.

TEXTILE MEMBRANE MATERIALS

Textile membranes usually consist ofprooved or coated fabrics. Some types of non-wovens are in use for
special applications.
19~

Fig. 1: The Riyadb Stadium roof. General view and single unit of the
roaf.

20

TYPE OF MEMBRANE

MANUFACTURE OF THE

GEOMETRY AND LOAOBEARING BEHAVIOUR

STRUCTU RAL SURFACE

ForCes cannot flow on direct path

because 01 Rmlted shear stiffness .

SOU ARE NET

Ideal membrane shell behaviour.

,, ''
,,, '''
, '

,,

'

'

TRIANGULAR NET

The shear stitiness of the fabric and 01 its

..{

~ coating determine the level of the membrane

[!' \

\ shell behalJiour.

TEXTILE MEMBRANE

Ideal membrane shell behaviour.

Fig. 2: Interdependence between type of membrane, the manufacturing, Ihe geometry .nd the loadbearlng behaviour.

Today, there is a wide range of natural and synthetic

fibres which could be used for the production of the
membranes. However, the typical demands on structural textile membranes and the necessity of series of
detailed tests with the material itself as well as with its
joints have, for common use, led to a small selection
of fibres. Fig. 3, 4, 5.

Standard Fibre Materials

The fabrics themselves are not waterproof. In addition, most of the fibres will be attacked by environmental effects, as e.g. sunlight radiation. Inter alia,
this usually results in a reduction of strength and flexibility. The fabrics therefore must be prooved or
coated.
Prooving is the preferential treatment for cotton and
cotton/synthetic fabrics. Coating with PVC is the
most common solution for Polyester -and Aramid-

- Polyamid

- Cotton / Synthetics
- Polyester

Glass
- Aramid

- PT FE
Fig. 3: Standard fibre materials.

21

Base FallTlc and Typical Coatings / Flnlshlngs

CARBON HST 1.8

Cotton / Synthetics

- Prooving

Polyester

- Plasticized Pvc/painted/Films
-PVDF

- Synthetic rubber
CARSON HT lOO

lOOO

Polyamld

STAIM.ESS STEEL
AR ... .41O

11M

_ Plasticized PVC/Painted/Films
-PVDF

E -GLASS

- Synthetic rubber

-PTFE

Glass

'000

- Silicone
Aramid

POLYESTER

1000

-PTFE

POL YAMID

PTFE
soo
100

_ Plasticized PVC/Painted/Films

- No coating required

Fig. 6: Base fabric and typical coatings/flnlshines.

L,=:::::__~____~____" _--;:-;;m

f%

STRESS-STRAt!!lEHAVICUR OF SOME STANO;.AD FIBERS.

SHOAT TERI-t LOAD!N[i,2JC ,

Fie. 4: Stress strain behaviour of standard nbres. Short term loading.

.-cH STRENGTH Pa,V,lHoO

10

P(I.1ESTER

the fabric is of importance for the shear stiffness and

with that also for the load bearing capacity of many of
the structural details.
The strength of a membrane depends on the type of
yarn, the type of weave and the count used for the fabric. The PVC/Polyester and the PTFE/Glass materials which can be bought from stock show a strength
up to 200 kN/m (short term tensile test, 23 0 C). On inquiry, qualities up to more than 300 leN/m can be produced. The strong qualities of PVCI Aramides can
reach the order of 600 kN/m. However, because of
their high price and missing translucency, the latter
are chosen for special cases only. They have to be produced on inquiry therefore.

J
,f

0""
_ - - - - - - - AUIoUO

3. TYPICAL JOINTS AND EDGE DETAILS

0.'
Sl,1f~ESS

roo
UI

,t,~

""'"

STEEL

Joints

,aD4U

r!ME-O(PEtIOH T O(fClltotATIOHS Of SOME ST4t1O,I,RG fI8RS. ICIIEP. TESlt

N,.o..uu.' 0.5

3.1.

10000

'"

FiC. 5: Time-dependent deformations of some standard nbres (creep

test).

Within a textile membrane, the high-strength fibres

are the loadbearing elements. Joining two strips therefore means to create a connection which is able to
transfer the forces from fibre to fibre.
Three groups of joints may be distinguished:

fabrics, coating with PTFE is typical for glassfibre-fabrics. Fig. 6.

The coating system must be well suited to the fibres
used for the fabric itself: on the one hand, the coatings are applied onto the fabrics at high temperatures
which the fibres must be able to withstand, on the other hand, the chemical and mechanical adhesion to

22

Welding, especially high-frequency (HF) welding, is

the type of joint mostly used. Within welded joints,
the forces are transferred from one fabric via the fused coatings to the other one. The strength of the detail therefore is determined by the strength of the coating itself and by the adhesion of the coating to the fibres of the fabric. Fig. 7

about 80 % at 23' C of the strength of the membrane

itself can be reached. For the PTFE-coated Glassfibre
materials, sewing is not possible.

Fig. 7: Welded joint detail.

Today, high quality HF-welds of PVC/Polyester

membranes show a strength up to 95 % at 23' C (70 %
at 70' C) of the strength of the fabric itself. The light
qualities of PVC-coated Aramidfibre-fabrics can
reach the same range. For heavy qualities of this material, the combination of welding and sewing is inevitable.

The third group ofjoints may be named as Mechanical Joints. It is typical for this group that the forces
are transferred via clamping, bolting or ropes passing
through eyes in the membrane. Figs. 9, 10, 11. The
joints belonging to this group are used for the assembly of large membrane elements on site usually, with
those according to Figs. 10, 11 for low strength or
temporary connections only.

Welding ofPTFE/GJassfibre membranes is done in a

high-temperature contact-welding process. The
strength of these joints is about 80-90 % (23' C and
70' C) of the strength of the fabric.
The second group of joints are the sewed connections. Sewing, the oldest technique in joining fabrics,
is of reduced importance today. There are several reasons to that:

Fig. 9: Clamped connection or two membranes.

Today's welded joints usually are of such good quality that they produce a strength which is even higher
than that possible with sewed seams. In addition, sewed seams are not completely waterproof and the sewing threads may be attacked by environmental effects. Additional measures therefore must be taken in
order to protect the joint, Fig. 8. Sewing therefore
may become non-economic if applied to the very long
(standard) joints of single strips. However, for a lot of
details, especially ifforces have to be introduced into
the membrane locally, sewing, also in combination
with welding, yields optimal results.
The strength of the sewed seams of the PVC/Polyester membranes is about 70% at23'C (50% at 70' C) of
the strength of the membrane itself. For the PVCcoated Aramidfibre qualities, sewing is used in combination with HF-welding. An ultimate strength of

Fig. 8: Sewed joint with protecting nlm.

Fig, 10:

Typicallopp~f.!ltener

detail.

Fig. 11: Membranes with plastic or metallic eyes, connected by a 21gzag curved plastic rope.

23

The strength of the joints according to Fig. 10 depends on their detailing. Usually, 80-90 % (23' C) of
the strength of the membrane itself can be reached.

/
/

3_2. Edge Details

Along their edges, the membranes meet a structural
element which collects the membrane-forces and carries them to the foundations.
These edge elements implicit some general structural
and detailing problems:
- The highly loaded edge elements are normally of
steel and therefore much more stifT and rigid than the
membrane itself. This strongly influences the elastic
deformations and therefore the membrane stresses
within the edge area.
- In order to avoid local overstressing of the membrane, the edge elements have to take up all components of the membrane stresses acting along the edge.
The transfer afforces perpendicular to the edge causes less problems than the transfer of tangential forces.

Fig. 13: Tube In pocket,. standard detail for air-supported structures.

To guarantee the flow offorces from the flexible, only

tensioned and very thin membrane into the edge elements, tbeir connection needs very careful detailing.
There are different types of edge details. In general,
one may distinguish the
- only-tensioned (comparatively flexible) edge elements
- rigid and stiff edges (beams under compression
andlor bending)

Fig. 14: SllIndud edge clllllping delllU.

The only-tensioned edge elements usually consist of

steel cables. The connection between the membrane
and the cable is done either with an edge pocket, Fig.
12, or with clamping details aoalogeous to Figs. 14, 15.
In the case of small membrane forces, details analogeous to Fig. 11 can be used.

Fig. 15: Edge clamping detail for hiehly loaded membranes.

Fig. 12: Double layer (edge-) cable pocket.

24

The strength of these edge details depends on their

individual detailing. For the PVC-coated Polyester
fabrics, the edge-cable pocket details show a strength
afup t.o 95% oflhe strength afthe fabric itself (short
term test, 23' C).

The steel cables are in use because of their low price

and because they can be anchored easily to the foundations. However, the solution is restricted to membranes with any size of radial but limited size of tangential forces in the membrane along the edge: only
small tangential forces can be transferred via friction.
In the case of high tangential forces along an edge cable pocket, a fabric belt, which is running parallel to
the edge cable, is sewn onto the membrane very often, The belts are designed to collect the tangential
forces and to carry them to the foundations. Such fabric belts show another stress-strain behaviour than
the edge cable. In addition, their loadbearing behaviour is time-dependent. Therefore, it is difficult to
predict the level of forces each of the two edge ele,
ments will take (2, 3).
In the case of small membrane forces and small radii
of the edge curves, a fabric belt as the only edge element can be sewn onto the membrane directly. These
belts can carry the forces directly to the foundations
or they can be anchored in short distances onto a steel
cable running parallel to the edge curve. This type of
edge is called a garland cable solution.
The optional solution is an only-tensioned edge element the stiffness of which corresponds to the stiffness of the membrane and which also is made out of
fibres in order to allow easy connection onto the
membrane (2, 5).
The design of rigid and stiff edges is more developed.
The standard solution is the edge clamping detail
where the membrane is connected directly onto the
foundation, Fig. 14. Geometry of the detail, manufacturing and load bearing capacity are similar to the
clamped connections of two membranes, Fig. 9. For
the PVC-coated Polyester fabrics, up to 90 % of the
strength of the fabric itself can be reached (short term
test, 23' C).
In case only small forces have to be anchored, the tube in pocket detail is a well proven solution. Fig. 13.
The standard membrane materials and their associated details offer a wide range of structural possibilities. Following, some structures recently designed by
the authors will be presented in order to pint out some of the specific advantages as well as problems of
the single materials and of membrane structures in
general.

Riyadh have been covered by a 50.000 m' membrane

roof to protect visitors against sun and rain. Fig. I.
The roofwhich has been opened in 1987 consists of24
units, arranged in an annular shape of 134 m inner and
270 m outer diameter. Each of the units shows, see
Fig. 16
- a vertical main mast
- a pair of suspension and stabilizing cables, which
are put under prestress by a center ring cable
- the staying system, comprising an upper stay and
two triangulated lower stay cables, deviated by a 45
inclined edge mast.
These three elements form a primary structural system which has been erected first. The membrane
units, edged by ridge, valley and catenary cables, have
been fixed into this primary system afterwards.
The membrane is a PTFE-coated glassfibre-fabric. lts
ultimate strength is specified to be ISO kN/m in both
directions. This assures a safety factor> I 0 for permanent loads like prestress and >5 for short term loads
like wing. The PTFE/glassfibre material has been
chosen for this structure because of its
- very low degradation under intensive UV-radiation impact
- high resistance against the abrasive action of sand
- the self-cleaning, means antiadhesive behaviour
of the PTFE-coating.
Each of the 24 membrane units consist of four individual membrane parts, resulting on a maximum size of
850 m' per piece. The single pieces have been manufactured in the shop and folded into a crate for transport to site. The membrane units finally have been assembled on the ground of the stadium, using a clamped connection. After teh installation of the entire
membrane roof had been finished, the final prestress
was introduced by jacking up the rings at the top of
the main masts (4, 5).

5. A CONVERTIBLE ROOF FOR.THE

ARENA IN ZARAGOZA
4.

ROOF OF THE STADIUM IN

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Following an architectural design of 1. Fraser, I. Roberts and Partners, London, with Geiger and Berger,
New York, the grandstands of the new stadium in

The Arena of Zaragoza/Spain has been designed and

erected in the last decade of the 18th century. The existing structure is circular in plan with a diameter of
about 100 m. It shows a 3-story gallery onto the top of
which the perimeter ofthe new roof has been placed,

25

Maslrlng

Suspension cables

I
Ridge cable

I
Conter 6ng

-splice cables

Valley cable
Stabilizing cables

Outer catenaries

I
Edge mast

Fig. 16: A single unit of the Riyadh roof: Structural elements.

Fig. 17. This circular roof covers 15.000 seats. It consists of a permanent (ringshaped) outside and a convertible central part. The central part of the roof structure shall be installed in 1990.
The permanent part of the roofis a lightweight Rim.
spokes and hub -type primary structure. The rim
has been realized by a polygonal steel-ring, the spokes are formed by radial prestressed cables. The
hub consists of an upper and a lower ring-cable,
connected by 16 tubular posts. The permanent membrane finally has been arranged between the lower set
of the spoke-cables.
The convertible part of the roofshall be installed within the central opening. Fig. 18. Along its perimeter,
it will be attached onto the lower ends of the tubular
posts. A central point shall be suspended from a spoke-type cable system. The prestressing of the convertible roof is planned to be done with a hydraulic jack
which is part ofthe central point. 0 pening and closing
of the roof will be done in the unstressed position
(central jack released) by 16 electric engines.
Both, the central convertible membrane as well as the
permanent membrane are the same type of PVC-co a-

26

ted Polyester fabric. This material has been chosen

because of its flexibility which allows easy folding and
which guarantees a small size of the folded roof-package. The strength of the membranes is 115 kN/m
(warp direction, short term test, 23' C).

6.

RETRACTABLE ROOF OLYMPIC

STADIUM MONTREAL

Initially, the convertible roof of the Montreal Olympic Stadium should have been installed for the 1976
Olympic Games. Caused by several reasons, the final
decision for the installation of the roof has been made
in 1984. The initial concept of architect R. Taillibert
was followed in general, but the original design was
considerably reworked (5, 6).
The 20.000 m' fabric roof of the Montreal Olympic
Stadium is the world's largest convertible membraneroof. A onepiece membrane is suspended by cables al
26 intermediate points from a 168 m high inclined lower. Along it's perimeter, the membrane is edged by

.'

#-" .'
~

Fig. 17: The Arena in Zaraeoza withjts membrane-roof.

Genlral spoke-calllo system

Cent r:.lI~c1c

I
-

Post s Dr the
t.enlfl Jl'Iutl

LEIwe, set cl radoal CIIbIes ,

j}efffillJl8l1l rool

Fig. 18: The Zaragoza root while the convertible memhrane Is ih ma lion.

17 garland cables which transfer the forces to the existing concrete roof covering the grandstands. Fig. 19.
The roof may serve as an example to show that in certain cases the feasibility of a whole concept or structure depends on the solution of a single detail:
The retraction process as originally proposed and also
later followed in principle -but not in detail- is sket-

ched in Figs. 20,21 , 22. (It should be noted that for

simplification in this and all following sketches, the
actually 17 edge connections are represented by 4, the
actually 26 suspension points by 2.). It proceeds stepwise as follows:
- release prestress by releasing the suspension cables and lowering the suspension points
27

Fig. 19: Overall view or the Olympic Stadium Montreat.

~-"
.. ,

fig. 20: The Montreal rOl)f in tbe clued and prestressed position. Initi.l concept. Simplified representation.

I!:=--

remove bolts from edge connections

\'\.

~;
.Y::f-~ Ij,l ~~

F\ \~~ ~-~~,

t",.----

Fie:. 21: The fixations alone the perimeler oftbe roof can be removed
after the preslress has been released. fnilial eonc:ept.

28

Fig. 12: Lining of the roof. Initial concept.

lift roof by winding the suspension cables and releasing the holding back cables .
The diameter of the suspension ropes was originally
proposed to be about 40 mm. It was intended to install all 26 winches in the tower top and to wind and also prestress these ropes directly through these winches. The whole roof, including of cou rse the suspension cables and th e tower itself, were designed for 1/3
of the design snow load. A snow melting system was
to be installed.

Having had already extreme difficulties to find a really acceptable seam for the PVC/ Aramid fabric, imposed to us by the client since he had bought it already in the early 70's, in combining sewing and welding
we by all means wanted to avoid high temperatures.
This cannot be avoided if the melting system works
under realistic conditions and will then reduce the
strength of the seams dramatically. Further and
mainly, isn't it rather likely that the power supply
breaks down in a snow storm? A building is not a machine! However, including a snow load of 1.35 kN/m'
the diameter of the suspension cables was to go up to
about 130mm and with them the diameter and size of
the winches. No chance anymore to accommodate
them in the tower, beyond their high costs and inoperability.
In this context it must be mentioned that it is detrimental to a rope if it is coiled and stressed simultaneously. Especially where itleaves the winch it is subject to permanent bending under full stress and which
means that its diameter has to be further increased to
reduce the axial stresses, increasing again the bending
stresses and the size of the winches. A vicious circle.

--

Fig. 24: Final concept: During the opened position oflhe roof, the
suspension cables are stored within the tower in a straight positlon.
Only the small hOisting cables hive to be coiled.

The solution came from the simple idea to uncouple

lifting/coiling from prestressing/load bearing, i.e. to
coil the ropes as long as they are unloaded and to
stress them as long as they are straight. With this, the
most loaded suspension cable needed a diameter of
95 mm only. It is coupled at its tower support to
hoisting cables 000 mm diameter. The coupling socket rests on a hydraulic jack for prestress and release,
Fig. 23. In fact, only 12 out of the total 26 suspension
cables rest on jacks, because this is sufficient to prestress or release the whole roof. This reduces not only
costs but simplifies the retraction operation. To further ease the congestion of the tower top, the cables
are not coiled there but only deviated down to the tower base on rollers, Fig. 24. The winches which are
now only to accomodate the small hoisting cables and
to carry the dead load ofthe roof find sufficient place
at the tower base. Fig. 24.

Fig. 25: Final concept: Prestressing and replacing is done hy using bydraulic jacks ltIbich shift the sockets or the suspension c:ables.

Fie. 23: Final concept: SeparatIon orrunctions. The lUting Qfthe roof
including its suspension cables is donde DOW by using hoisting cables.

To be complete a further asset to the original design

should be mentioned: To control the roofs motions
during lifting and to wrap it, a lasso cable was introduced, connecting similar to a curtain's lace the 17 edge connections. Fig. 26. Easy to say but difficult to accomplish. The cast steeljoints needed tojoin the edge
and lasso cables, which are to be lifted with the roof,
have a total weight of more than 50 t themselves.

29

the following April. Fig. 27. The first assembly was in

December 1988.
The upper and the lower membrane of the cushion
are edged by 30 garland cables each. At the points
where these cables join together, they are fixed onto a
polygonal steel-ring. The tensioned membrane and
this steel-ring in compression form a self-balanced
structure. Fig. 28.
Fig. 26: Final conccllt: A circular lass!) cable has been introduced in
()rder to guarsntee a controlle<l folding unfolding of the membrane.

7. THE "COUVERTURE DES ARENES

DE NIMES

The roof for the Roman arena in Nimes/France is an

airinflated cushion-type structure. It is ellipctic in
plan with main axes of90 resp. 60 m. The building has
been designed in order to cover the central part afthe
arena during wintertime, means the structure will be
installed each year in October and it will be removed

The steel-ring is supported by 30 columns with a

height of 10 m each. Horizontal forces are taken by
four x-shaped cable bracings which have been arranged between the columns. A transparent facade spans
from the ring to the outside perimeter ofthe building.
Caused by the annual montage/demontage cycle, the
structure has been designed under the imperative of
a minimized deadweight and of easy-to-connectl disconnect details. All details therefore show pins or
bolted connections. The ring may be dismantled into
30 elements, the columns can be taken away easily after some few bolts have been removed. The membrane cushion consists of an upper and a lower membrane which can bejoined quickly by an airtightzip. The

Fig. 27: The (Couverture des Arenes de Nlme5)~ ,

30

---

--

-_..

- masonry
- clay
- plastic foam
shells. However, the method becomes most interesting ifit is used for the erection oflarge span concrete
shells (8).
The first time pneumatic formwork has been used
was in 1936. Since that time, a number of different
systems and procedures has been developed. The
most important ones are (9, 10, 11, 12).
- high internal pressure form work.
- concreting in single layers, which is appropriate
when using shotcreting

Fig. 28: Arenes de Nimes: Fixation of the cushion onto the compression ring, principle.

- concreting in sections with hardening intervals

- stabilizing the formwork with additional cables, also in combination with the reinforcement

facade finally consists of 480 identical hollow box-type polycarbonate beams with a deadweight of about
30 kg each only.
Strands and hydraulicjacks are used for the lifting and
lowering ofthe membrane/cable structure and for the
ring. The entire erection as well as the jacking system
have been developed for this building especially.
PCV -coated Polyester membranes have been chosen
for the membrane cushion because oftheir suitability
for multiple folding, storage and installation cycles.
The upper membrane shows a strength of 150 kNlm
(warp direction, short term tensile test, 23' C), the lower membrane, which is reinforced by a cable net,
shows a strength of 88 kN/m.
The structure has been designed to resist extreme
load conditions. The maximum wind load corresponds to 200km/h~ The maximum design snowload is
90 kg/m', means the total weight of snow is about twice the deadweight of the entire building (7).

8.

- stabilizing the formwork with plastic foams

- finish concreting before the material starts hardening (e.g. Bini-method).
The individual measures also can be combined.
All of the methods mentioned above are characterized by the intention to reduce the deformations of the
formwork. This limitation and the control of formwork deformations is of importance because the
formwork can remarkably change its shape under the
load of the concrete. In addition, the concrete usually
starts hardening while the concreting is still in progress. While it is hardening, the initially large deformability of concrete decreases appreciably. When it
reaches minimal ultimate strain, the concrete is still
very weak. In this phase, formwork deformations can
yield to a permanent damage.

PNEUMATIC FORMWORK SYSTEMS

The pneumatic structures show an almost unlimited

variety of shapes. They are characterized by short
erection and dismantling times, low weight, re-usability and the easy realisation of curved surfaces. They
therefore may be seen as an appropriate tool to bring
up shell construction again: by using them as a (pneumatically stabilized) form work.
In general, pneumatic formwork may be used for the'
erection of

Fig. 29: A large concrete shell under construction. Air supported

form work realized wHh Vinyl-coated Polyester-fabric. The span of

tbe ronnwork is 58 m. Photo: H. Harrington.

31

Several hundreds of concrete shells have been erected up to now with pneumatic formworks. Their
spans go up to about 70 m with an associated thickness between 10 to 15 cm. Fig. 29. It is remarkable that
nearly all of them are dome-type shells. On the one
hand, it is evident that domes are efficient structural
systems. On the other hand, shapes which keep the
concrete always under compression are much more
efficient and ttiey also may be much more interesting
from the architectural viewpoint. Textile membranes
allow the realisation of such optimum shell shapes
without remarkable additional costs caused by the
geometric complexity of the formwork. The use of
pneumaticformwork therefore is a great chance to revive concrete shells with their pleasing architecture.
Fig. 30.

REFERENCES

Fig. 30: Concrete shells: Some of the shapes which could be realized
by using pneumatic fonnwork.

6.

1.
1. Schlaich, 1.: Les Structures Legeres. Annales de l'Institut
Technique du Batiment et des Travaux Publ ics. Serio: Tech~
nique Generale de 18 Construction. N,D 479, Dec . 1989.
2. Grop,per, H., Ilnd Sobek, W.: Zur konstruktiven Durchbil
dung ausschlief31ich zugbeanspruchter Membranrander.
Proceedings 3. International Symposium Weitgespanntc
FJachentragwerken. SFB 64, University of StuttgaIt. Stutt

gart, 1985.
3. Schlaich. J.; Kleinhanss, K., and Gabriel, K,: Membrandach
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